It is quite striking to see how Canada’s new minister of Canadian Identity manages to be so clueless and tone deaf when it comes to certain parts of the country. That’s especially true, it seems, when it comes to the current mood and political situation here in Alberta. Read More
It is quite striking to see how Canada’s new minister of Canadian Identity manages to be so clueless and tone deaf when it comes to certain parts of the country. That’s especially true, it seems, when it comes to the current mood and political situation here in Alberta. It’s unlikely that Steven Guilbeault is intentionally
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It is quite striking to see how Canada’s new minister of Canadian Identity manages to be so clueless and tone deaf when it comes to certain parts of the country. That’s especially true, it seems, when it comes to the current mood and political situation here in Alberta.
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It’s unlikely that Steven Guilbeault is intentionally handing ammunition to Alberta separatists or helping their cause, although he’d be high on the list of prominent Liberals you’d suspect wouldn’t be sad to see Alberta leave. Either way, we could do with a whole lot less of him right now.
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Guilbeault is no longer Environment minister, and is not and was not ever the minister for Natural Resources, so it’s unclear why he feels the need to continue to weigh in on such matters. He also presumably does not speak on behalf of the prime minister on these files, but the prime minister has kept Guilbeault as a senior minister and has not rebuked any of his comments.
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Noon News Roundup
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The comments in question concern the future of energy infrastructure in Canada, and specifically the likelihood that we’ll see any new pipelines constructed. Ultimately, the market will (or should) dictate the question of what’s needed and what’s economically viable, but apparently Guilbeault has it all figured out.
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According to the minister, we will see in a few years that “demand for oil will peak globally and it will also peak in Canada.” Therefore, he argues, “before we start talking about building an entirely new pipeline, maybe we should maximize the use of existing infrastructure.”
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Specifically, he pointed to the Trans Mountain Expansion project (TMX), which he claimed was operating at “about 40 per cent capacity.”
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In fact, TMX is operating at about double the capacity cited by Guilbeault, a fairly significant error that very much undermines his point. It would also be fair to note that if the minister had his way, it’s unlikely that TMX would exist in the first place.
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It should also be noted that other forecasts concerning global oil demand envision a much longer timeline to peak demand than the one cited by Guilbeault. As well, the decision as to whether demand for oil and our ability to move that product justifies investment in new pipeline infrastructure is one for the private sector to make.
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If the minister is so confident that no such case exists, then he should have no problem with steps that could improve the approval process and eliminate other barriers that might otherwise discourage such investment decisions.